I have no real problem with Mr. Bush disseminating misinformation in order to get public backing for Iraq Part II. That is what politicians do, and we should expect it.
My main bitch with him is that with all the real, solid, easily provable and proven reasons to invade Iraq, he had to fall back on the
“We’re All Gonna DIE!!!” argument instead of the viable reasons.
Saddam needed to be kicked out of power. Maybe Mr. Bush was right to use scare tactics – if he believes that is the only way to get support.
An American POW being held by Iraq is no reason to unleash the Dogs of War.
Saddam’s continual violations of the terms of the Iraq I cease fire – note, “cease fire”, not “Peace Treaty”. His forces continually fired on allied aircraft enforcing the No Fly Zone – that Iraq agreed to abide with. He refused to give full cooperation to the UN weapons inspectors as he agreed to do. I believe there were over a dozen UN resolutions he violated.
These reasons were deemed insufficient for Mr. Bush, and he barely mentioned them. He had to try to instill fear in the American People.
Actually, I never feared Saddam Hussein would launch a nuclear strike on the U.S. if he had nukes; he was far more likely to use it against Israel. However, what DID concern me about Saddam Hussein was his potential for unleashing BIOLOGICAL or CHEMICAL weapons against the U.S., as those weapons are far easier to conceal than nukes, and we KNOW he had them and had used them in the past. To me, the nuke issue was almost a non-issue, and I paid it very little heed (on the other hand, I am VERY concerned that N. Korea may sell a nuke to an anti-American group).